Good,but not good enough

India show signs of improvement,but clinical England take 1-0 lead in series.

Punctuating the largely forgettable last couple of months in England,there have been a few fleeting highs for India. Its just that they have invariably been overshadowed by a constantly-raising-the-bar home side. Those rare good performances lost their relevance by the end of the day as the hosts came up with something far superior. Its been that kind of a tour,and Tuesday was that kind of a day.

Indian opener Parthiv Patel hit an 18-ball 28,but it paled in comparison to Craig Kieswetters 46 from 25 during Englands chase. Patel got 10 runs from Bresnans first over,but England sustained that run rate for 10 overs,collecting 100 from the first 60 balls. Rahul Dravid hit a 30-ball 32 without slogging much,but Alastair Cook scored 80 from just 63 by sticking to conventional strokes. Indias part-time medium pacer Virat Kohli had modest figures of 3-0-22-0,but the man with similar skill set in the rival camp,Ravi Bopara (2-0-13-0),was more restrictive. Most importantly,however,Graeme Swann proved to be much more cunning than R Ashwin. But more about that decisive duel of the off-spinners later.

So with Cook and his men winning most of those mini battles,England recorded a seven-wicket win in the second ODI to take a 1-0 lead,with three more games to go. Indias seemingly intimidating score of 187 from 23 overs in the rain-curtailed contest was made to look below par as England reached the target with five ball to spare.

Unsung hero

But unfortunately,in the haze of those seven sixes and 32 fours that the patient crowd relished after waiting under their umbrellas for more than five hours,the days game changer certainly didnt get the applause he deserved.

Swann,with figures of 5-0-33-3,was the unsung hero of the virtual T20. In terms of the contest,his effort was far more valuable than the Indian off-spinners,for Ashwins 2/42 was outperformed by Swanns three vital blows. Swanns wickets were a lot more timely as compared to Ashwins strikes. He dismissed Dravid,Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane just before the in-form batsmen could hit those vital big blows that prove decisive in such short games. As for Ashwin,he closed the barn door after the horse had bolted.

On a flat track,the specialist slow bowler is the key member of the side. With the white ball not swinging and the pacers not getting that quick-off-the-pitch movement that results in wickets,it was only the guile of the spinner that could have foxed the batsmen,who merely had to get in the line of the ball and swing the bat.

Swann had the slyness of the devil as he deceived the Indian batsmen into playing false strokes. Against a finger spinner on a dead track,batsmen mostly aim to loft the ball over the bowlers head,placing it between long-on and long-off. Thats precisely the area Kieswetter had in mind when Dhoni threw the ball to Ashwin in the fifth over after the pacers were taken to the cleaners. The aggressive opener connected twice,making the ball go sailing towards the sightscreen. With Ashwin conceding 16 runs in his first over,England were 56/0 in 5 overs,and suddenly the steep chase looked less than threatening.

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On the other hand,when Swann came on to bowl during the Indian innings,the visitors had wickets in hand and were also looking to step up the run-rate. Occupying the crease were Dravid and Rahane,two batsmen who have grown up to aim the V when they have to play an aerial shot. Swann knew precisely what the technically sound duo were up to and went around the wicket in his second over.

The plan was perfect,he had a sharp catcher and a specialist slip in the form of James Anderson at mid-wicket and the athletic Ian Bell at long-on. Swann was bowling his fastish off-breaks and challenging the batsmen to dig out the over-pitched stuff and hit straight. Dravid got a whiff of the plot when he tried to beat mid-wicket with a slog-sweep,but only ended up finding Anderson.

Kohli looked up to the challenge,but he too only got the direction right and not the distance. And thanks to Swann,Bell ran,dived and scooped the ball in front of the sightscreen. Having watched the Kohli dismissal from the non-strikers end,Rahane started hitting the ball straighter. He tried to play it over Swanns head,but without the elevation was caught by the bowler.

Swanns shrewdness got the better of his targets,who were expected to take India past 200,just when they were hitting their stride. But then again,it has been a frustrating two months for Dhoni & Co.